CHAPTER 19

Andrew peeled off at Crosby Street. “Catch you later,” he called.

We waved and carried on down Snodgrass Avenue. I waited until I couldn’t hear the thud of his basketball on the footpath before saying anything. “Hey, thanks for all the things you said back there. It means a lot to me, you guys believing I can fix this.”

Talia sighed heavily, glowered, and strode off.

He might have been clueless, but even Einstein would get that she was annoyed.

“What? What did I say now?”

Darren took me by the arm, letting Talia get ahead. “Back there…” He grimaced and I wondered if he had a stomachache. “Seb, Talia didn’t really mean it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It was spin.”

“Spin?”

“Like a placebo.”

I threw up my hands. “Darren, could you please speak English.”

Darren looked at the ground. He shifted his feet. Plucking a branch off a bush, he started shredding the tiny leaves from the stem.

“Darren.”

Breathing deep, Darren farted air though his lips, only he didn’t laugh. “A placebo is when the doctor doesn’t really think you’re ill, so he gives you a sugar pill—a placebo—instead of a real one. You think you’re being treated, so you feel better.”

I thought for a bit. “So, what you’re saying is, Talia sugar-coated the situation. She doesn’t really believe I can solve this, she just said I was on to it, so everyone would feel better.”

Everyone else.

Darren flicked the leaves off his hands. “Seb, you have to understand, times like these, it’s really important to keep everyone’s morale up.”

I turned on him, poking him in the chest with my finger. “What about you, Darren? Do you think I can do it?”

Darren pursed his lips, considering the question. “Seb, if anyone can fix this, you can.”

Just as I thought. Sugar coating. And from my best friend. Well, I wasn’t going to swallow it. I’d show them. Jamming my hands in my pockets, I stalked after Talia.